![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
On October 18, fifty-eight sophomores, juniors, and seniors were formally inducted into the National Honor Society (NHS).
A formal candle-lighting ceremony took place in Nichols Auditorium. The NHS officers, seniors Jeffrey Kwong, Alexander Hsu, Shilpa Nataraj, and Prag Batra, stated the four pillars of the society: leadership, scholarship, service, and character.
Keynote speaker, mathematics teacher Anthony Silk, addressed the audience in an entertaining yet thoughtful discussion on what it meant to be a part of the society.
“I’m excited to join the society and be part of an organization that gives back to the community,” Shivani Chandrashekaran (10) said. “The formal induction ceremony just adds that much more importance to the occasion.”
The following students were inducted: Rohith Bhethanabotla, Jaya Chandra, Shivani Chandrashekaran, Rebecca Chen, Stephanie Chen, Mercedes Chien, Zareen Choudhury, Jennifer Dai, Nikhil Dilip, Darian Edvalson, Shenel Ekici, Molly Ellenberg, Shivani Gillon, Arjun Goyal, Varun Gudapati, Anika Gupta, Areej Hasan, Samantha Hoffman, Saachi Jain, Trisha Jani, Zina Jawadi, Krishan Kumar, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Aaron Lee, Christine Lee, Kristine Lin, Mary Liu, Mabel Luo, Preeya Mehta, Varun Mohan, Dennis Moon, Maneesha Panja, Nikhil Panu, Katherine Paseman, Laura Pedrotti, Sahithya Prakash, Srikar Pyda, Namita Ravi, Shelby Rorabaugh, Kyle Roter, Nina Sabharwal, Pooja Shah, Pranav Sharma, Sonia Sidhu, Angela Singh, Alan Soetikno, Hansa Srinivasan, Sona Sulakian, Kathir Sundarraj, Sapna Suresh, Apurva Tandon, Monica Thukral, Namrata Vakkalagadda, Sameer Vij, Andrew Wang, Rachel Yanovsky, Robert Tyler Yeats, and Sean Youn.
